Rome (Fides Service)- “Not force, but rather intelligence will conquer terrorism” Father Justo Balda Lacunza, Rector of the Pontifical Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies in Rome,, commenting the present situation and most recent crimes committed by international terrorism.
One of the countries at risk, according to the West, is Morocco where last year in May about forty people were killed a series of terrorist attacks in central Casablanca. Moroccan were also most of the terrorists responsible for the deadly bomb blasts in Madrid on 11 March. “The people responsible come from the poorest sectors of the population among whom it is easier for the message preached by fundamentalists to take root” Father Lacunza told Fides. “Morocco is characterised by a flow of emigration and this is a symptom of national unease, particularly social and economic ”.
“The phenomenon of terrorism cannot be understood only in terms of religious extremism. Indeed if we focus only on this aspect we may fail to understand the wider aspect of this phenomenon” Father Lacunza told Fides. “Of course there are preachers who have made religion an extremist ideology. This ideology aims for economic and political power. In brief there are concrete interests behind terrorism”.
“I disadvantaged who become human bombs are indoctrinated by people who exploit their frustration, but the ultimate goal is power” Father Lacunza told Fides. “The attacks in Saudi Arabia are the proof of ferocious civil strife in that country to overthrow the government and replace the government”.
“The leaders of terrorism are people who know the weak points of western societies. You only need to look at their strategy of communications aimed to obtain maximum impact on world public opinion. It is a mistake to consider terrorists only exalted madmen. On the contrary there are cold and lucid strategies capable of complex plans. This means that to fight terrorism it takes not force but knowledge of the phenomenon with intelligence, calm and when necessary with silence. Sounding the repeated alarms is laying the terrorists’ game ”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 31/572004, righe 34 parole 418)